Just into our second day there, we ended up driving to her sister’s home ten minutes outside Panama City Beach. We always ended up staying the entire day hanging out and catching up. It was basically our spring routine.
Upon returning to the motel later that evening, we couldn’t help noticing several of the University of Georgia guys sitting on our back porch, not at all unusual after getting to know us. As we walked to the back side of the porch we noticed they had a small table pulled out playing a drinking game, which required the loser to down a shot, and as it appeared they must have all been losing
Gina quickly said in a joking manner as we walked up, “Boys, that’s a game where even the winner’s a loser in the morning.” They all laughed and began brutally heckling us to join them.
Now, I’m not the type to enter a pissing contest over simple heckling, never have been never will be, but Gina on the other hand can’t help herself. She’s hard-wired for it and doesn’t even know it.
She playfully began firing right back saying, “First of all, most of you lightweights are already buzzed, and second, I’m not one of your little girly buddies who follows you around and fakes being tipsy after a shot. Oh, Brian, oh, Stan, that one shot made me a little dizzy.”
That stoked them even more. After another twenty minutes or so of this back and forth banter she finally said, “Fine… Fine. Okay, even if I lose I’ll be able to walk when most of you are curled up in the fetal position on the floor.” I must say I was trying my damnedest not to laugh because I knew full well what a lightweight she was in the drinking department and full-on trying to bluff guys who majored in drinking.
After a few more minutes of this harassing joust between Gina and her antagonists, she and I went into the room to change our clothes. I arrived back out on the deck long before Gina and poured myself a large vodka tonic as we all waited for her.
We began chitchatting about everything and nothing. They must have told me a hundred times how they were going to take her to school on drinking, bragging about what power drinkers they were, how many times they had played this, and how much they could hold.
At times thinking they might be overdoing it, they would quickly begin saying, “Oh, but we’ll take it easy. Anyone can quit at any time.” I actually began wondering if anyone would be coherent by the time she came back out. With every passing minute I began thinking Gina might have been right about most of them ending up in the floor. With the game paused, they continued to pound beer and shots the entire time.
Just as I was about to see what was keeping Gina, she slid the glass door open and walked out. I noticed she was wearing a bikini with a tank top pulled over, quite normal I suppose for where we were, but not what I was expecting with six drunken college students sitting around. Instantly one of the buzzed college students said, “Mr. and Mrs. Arnett, please forgive me, but I have to say this, Gina, you are positively the sexiest college professor alive.”